Sarsons overrated? No, Sarsons overrated.

Economist6d8b

1) Methodology: not novel
2) Results: not overly strong (or that impressive). Questions about robustness
3) Presentation: admittedly good. But not a rockstar
4) Question: very popular, especially for schools trying to stay on the political safe side.
5) Gender: very popular, especially for schools trying to stay on the political safe side. Or attract more female admits.

My advice to all you grad students? Don't worry about having a paper with a strong theory or empirical strategy. Don't focus on getting interesting results, or showing that they're robust. Pick a topic that Huffpost would write about. Ideally be in a minority (apparently including white female) that people will campaign for (not because you're skilled, but so that you will bring 'diversity'). Those who oppose you won't voice their opinions, even if valid, because then they're racist/sexist. It's foolproof- we're seeing it now.

Agreed. Saw her present -- not bad, but certainly not impressive. Other faculty members tore her apart.

However, students were 'counting questions' and found that she was asked 10 fewer questions than a male presenter, and that her 1st question happened a minute sooner. So we had to give her an offer, or we'd appear 'sexist.'

Agreed. Saw her present -- not bad, but certainly not impressive. Other faculty members tore her apart.
However, students were 'counting questions' and found that she was asked 10 fewer questions than a male presenter, and that her 1st question happened a minute sooner. So we had to give her an offer, or we'd appear 'sexist.'
It's all about appeasing the students these days.

Absurd, but it happened. 04f4 must be at Stanford (unless it happened multiple places). Students had laptops out and were counting questions, who the questions were coming from, when they occurred, what the questions were about, etc. It was ridiculous.

Agreed. Saw her present -- not bad, but certainly not impressive. Other faculty members tore her apart.
However, students were 'counting questions' and found that she was asked 10 fewer questions than a male presenter, and that her 1st question happened a minute sooner. So we had to give her an offer, or we'd appear 'sexist.'
It's all about appeasing the students these days.

Absurd, but it happened. 04f4 must be at Stanford (unless it happened multiple places). Students had laptops out and were counting questions, who the questions were coming from, when they occurred, what the questions were about, etc. It was ridiculous.

Agreed. Saw her present -- not bad, but certainly not impressive. Other faculty members tore her apart.
However, students were 'counting questions' and found that she was asked 10 fewer questions than a male presenter, and that her 1st question happened a minute sooner. So we had to give her an offer, or we'd appear 'sexist.'
It's all about appeasing the students these days.

Agreed. Saw her present -- not bad, but certainly not impressive. Other faculty members tore her apart.
However, students were 'counting questions' and found that she was asked 10 fewer questions than a male presenter, and that her 1st question happened a minute sooner. So we had to give her an offer, or we'd appear 'sexist.'
It's all about appeasing the students these days.